Anil Kapoor joins Abhishek and John

After five years of yes and nos, Dostana 2 has finally been shelved. But Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham who were once adjudged Best Jodi will be back on screen soon. However, this film is no bromance clad in gay campiness, if anything its high on male testosterone.

Sanjay Gupta’s Khotey Sikkey revolves around six gangsters and the filmmaker has already cast three of the lead actors. Says a source close to the development, “Sanjay is trying to put the right cast together. He’s managed to lock three actors. Besides John and Abhishek he has also signed Anil Kapoor. He’s in talks with other A-list actors to play the other three gangsters.”

The film will roll post Sanjay Gupta’s ambitious Mumbai-centric action drama, Mumbai Saga which unravels the nexus between the underworld, mill owners and the police. According to the source, Gupta is planning to kickstart Khotey Sikkey in mid 2015 and the film will be shot in two countries.

“The film is in the same genre as Aatish and Kaante. Ever since Kaante, about six men who pull off a heist in the US, opened in 2002, there has been speculation about a sequel. Khote Sikkey can well be described as Kaante 2,” adds the source. But while Kaante borrowed from Reservoir Dogs, The Usual Suspects and Heat, this one is reportedly completely original. “The idea has been with him for the longest time and Sanjay has been developing it for the last couple of years. The time is right for it now.”